India’s 1st Hospital to carry out 3D Surgery

Recently, surgeons in the Neurology department of the All India Institute of Medical Science (AIIMS) hospital in New Delhi, had to wear 3D glasses when they entered the theatre. No, we are not talking about a movie theatre, but an operation theatre and the surgeons were wearing the 3D glasses for a medical operation like no other.

The doctors conducted a live surgery of a brain tumour where the brain would appear in 3D to the surgeons on a screen. This kind of 3D operation involves no major incision but an endoscopy method in which a portion of the nose or the brain is pierced for the endoscopic microscope to reach the location of the tumour.

With these new healthcare services, AIIMS has become the first government hospital in India which provides a high-end facility for brain cancer treatment. AIIMS also conducts 3D retina surgery for adults, and over 200 patients have successfully been treated.

It was only in 2013 when the use of 3D technology in surgery was a study in the Fraunhofer Heinrich Hertz Institute (HHI) in Berlin, and the co-author of the study commented that “There’s no doubt that 3D will be a commodity in the future.” In 2014, the Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago carried out a successful 3D operation by removing a tumour in the base of a patient’s skull.

And now, in AIIMS, the surgery was conducted to remove a tumour in the pituitary gland of the patient’s brain.
Dr Ashish Suri, Professor, Department of Neurosurgery, spoke to Millenium Post and said, “We have introduced 3D brain tumour surgery for patients, wherein we wear special polaroid goggles to see brain tumours with in-depth clarity. The visuals can be seen on the monitor screen.”

The surgery was broadcast live, via video conferencing, at a conference organised by the Indian Society of Neuro Analogy at the premier healthcare institution.

3D visualisation indeed is a view of the future and is an exciting area where technology is being used to build a new reality that can help surgeons in complex and significant aspects of surgery.